On Friday, March 23, Oakland Schools and Michigan Teachers of English to Speakers of other Languages (MITESOL) welcomed a delegation of 10 international educators and administrators representing various educational institutions from China, Russia, Angola, Botswana, Djibouti, and Rwanda. The delegation, sponsored by the U.S. Department of State and hosted by Global Ties Detroit, is in the United States on an educator exchange program and will attend the 2018 International Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) Convention in Chicago, Illinois.

Suzanne Toohey, MITESOL President and ESL/Title III consultant for Oakland Schools, along with several Oakland County English Language (EL) leaders met with the international delegation for almost three hours. The discussion was lively! A wide range of educational topics were discussed including: teacher preparation and professional development, educator evaluation, English language instruction from pre-K through university, assessment and issues pertaining to advocacy. Many new ideas were forged and connections made, leaving the doors open to future collaborations.

The delegation then reunited with Suzanne and other MITESOL leaders and members at the MITESOL reception at the International TESOL Convention in Chicago, Illinois last week to continue connecting.

To learn more about MITESOL, visit www.mitesol.org.

To learn more about TESOL, visit www.tesol.org.

To learn more about Global Ties Detroit, visit www.GlobalTiesDetroit.org.

For more information, contact Suzanne Toohey @suzannetoohey #eslocmi suzanne.toohey@oakland.k12.mi.us.